| Science home | Future students | Current students | Postgraduate | Research | Staff | Contact us |
| Staff directory | A-Z index | Site map |
| Science home | Future students | Current students | Postgraduate | Research | Staff | Contact us |
| Staff directory | A-Z index | Site map |
Urban AUSRIVAS: An Evaluation of the Use of AUSRIVAS Models for Urban Stream AssessmentReportBreen, P., Walsh, C., Nichols, S., Norris, R., Metzeling, L. & Gooderham, J. (2000). “Urban AUSRIVAS: An Evaluation of the Use of AUSRIVAS Models for Urban Stream Assessment.” Land and Water Resources Research and Development Corporation, Occasional Paper 12/99. National River Health Program, Urban Sub Program Report No. 5. LWRRDC, Canberra. 33 pp. AbstractThe feasibility of developing and using area specific urban AUSRIVAS models was evaluated using existing stream macroinvertebrate datasets for the Melbourne metropolitan and hinterland area. To obtain an adequate number of reference sites for model development a number of datasets had to be combined. Melbourne hinterland sites with predominantly rural landuse were adopted as reference sites for urban areas. Datasets from the CRC for Freshwater Ecology (lab-sorted samples) were combined with the Victorian EPA National River Health Program dataset and the Melbourne Water Corporation Streamwatch dataset (both field-sorted samples). It was determined that lab-sorted and field-sorted datasets had some quantitative differences in the taxa recorded for the same sites. However, despite these systematic differences, multivariate analyses of community composition indicated that the lab-sorted and field-sorted datasets contained similar information about the patterns in macroinvertebrate community composition. Successful urban models were constructed using both family and lowest taxonomic level data for hinterland sites. O/E scores were negatively correlated to catchment imperviousness and biochemical oxygen demand. These variables are considered to be indicators of urban density and efficiency of pollutant delivery to streams. The experimental models suffered from a lack of appropriate reference sites and a poor physiographic coverage of reference sites. This is likely to be a problem for many large cities. Results from the urban family model and the EPA Victorian family model were not significantly different. A potential alternative approach is presented which uses existing regional models to assess urban environments. This approach uses a model with minimally impacted reference sites and develops a relationship that accounts for the impact of urbanisation on the model output. Catchment imperviousness measures the degree of catchment landuse change and is generally un-related to the type or quality of drainage infrastructure. Consequently it can be used as a general measure of urbanisation and as a covariate against which other ecological indicators can be set. Deviation from this relationship can be used to identify sites that are more (or less) disturbed given a particular level of imperviousness. Team membersDr Peter Breen, Melbourne Water Corporation, leader Entire report is available on the riversinfo website Hard copy of report available from More information Dr Peter Breen, |
|